A New Beginning Ch. 11

I came down early one morning and the light over the shower was on. The zero four hundred to zero six hundred watch had just gone upstairs; it was still kind of dark out. I was the only one downstairs. Not only was the light on over the shower, someone was showering. I couldn't see who because the door was leaning against the shower and blocking my view.

I was curious to know who was showering at this hour of the morning so I called out but no one answered me. I called again but still got no answer. Then the thought hit me that someone left a shower spigot turned on. I went over to the shower and to my surprise saw Curious playing in the water. The mischievous PrimusPrimate answered me with a screech. It seems he has been watching us shower and learned how to turn on the water as well as the light! You just have to pull a string for the light.

We then took the advice of Aleks and put another rope hinge on the door and a more secure latch on it. Joseph removed the on/off knobs from the spigots and hung them on pegs and shortened the string for the light. Aleks walked around the rest of the morning with an I-told-you-so look on her face. But soon we were back to bathing in front of everyone again; the rope hinges broke again after about ten days.

Laci still hasn't grown completely accustomed to bathing with everyone watching her. Most of the time, she will just shower without a door as most of us do. But every now and then she will meticulously lean the door against the shower frame. Some jokingly say it's when she has PMS. But I doubt that that's the reason. I think it's whenever she just wants some private time in the shower.

The PrimusPrimates are very intelligent animals. I am not surprised that the primates became the masters of intelligence. They learn quickly and frequently imitate our tool use. A couple of months ago Sue -- Laci named her after her older sister -- learned to pick up a hammer and crack open nuts with it. Lately, some of the others have followed her example. Washoe often comes up to us with his hand out begging for something to eat. We named him after Washoe, a female chimpanzee of the Twentieth Century and the first chimpanzee to learn sign language.

They have also picked up some bad habits. Boss Hog will pick up a stick every now and then and use it to hit one of the other proto-primates. We now have to keep our in-camp weapons, particularly our crossbows, where they cannot get their hands on them -- we keep the crossbows loaded for security. They are like little children and have to be protected from themselves.

But they still won't come inside the James Cook. Boss Hog is responsible for that. He watches his troop very closely. Whenever he sees one -- especially a female -- going near the stairs he runs over to it and scares it away from the steps. None of us has been able to figure out why he doesn't want any of his troop to go inside the James Cook.

But he doesn't intimidate Fur Ball in the least. Some of us are wondering whether Fur Ball will be the troop's next leader. He already bosses all the young PrimusPrimates around. Anthony is worried that Boss Hog might kill Fur Ball if he perceives him to be a threat to his leadership. We keep Boss Hog away from Fur Ball.

Six Bambiraptors came into camp early this afternoon. The paleontologist who named them did a perfect job; they're beautiful. Their bodies, necks, arms and upper legs are covered with forest green feathers; their tails are adorned with gold, black and deep purple feathers. Their coloring reminds me of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Their heads, lower legs and clawed hands are emerald green and featherless. Except for the coloring and the sickle-shaped claw on their foot, their lower legs look like chicken legs.

It must have been about fourteen hundred hours. The camp was nearly deserted. Anthony, Joseph, Aleks, Chantelle, and Veronica were out on a hunt. Louis, Akira, Vickie, Beth and David were on garbage and shit detail. Joshua, Natalie, Thomas and Juan were off getting bamboo for crossbow bolts; the grove is only about a fifteen minute walk from here.

Regina was in the infirmary with Doc getting her hand bandaged up. She cut it skinning an opossum that Natalie killed; it wondered into camp the night before.

That left only me, Josephine, Leonard and Laci downstairs. I was teaching Laci how to prepare a Bucktoothus skin for tanning. Josephine was preparing a vegetable stew. Leonard was just lounging around. He says that leg hasn't completely healed. Maybe he's right; who am I to judge how much pain he is in.

Having the camp nearly deserted like that is typical. Although quite often a number of us are out foraging, hunting, gathering firewood or working on some project, we've never left the camp completely deserted.

Our latest project is partitioning off a section of the lake with bamboo for fishing. We voted against building a wall of logs around camp -- the semicircular wall of plastic containers we erected when we first landed here seems to be sufficient. Instead, we decided to erect a fence in the lake that lets the fish swim through but keeps the monsters out.

There is no need to build a wall around our camp. The monsters that we haven't killed usually stay away from us. So, a couple of months ago we voted to erect a barrier in Lake Hope that would keep the alligators and Gatorhogs out of our fishing area. The project is about two thirds of the way through.

Anyway, it's a slow project because none of us are all that inspired to work on it. First of all, when we do go fishing there is always a guard who carries a crossbow and/or the gun. Secondly, alligators and Gatorhogs usually leave us alone too.

When we aren't doing any of those things that keeps us busy, frequently there are a bunch of us who just go out exploring. So, having only five or six people in camp is nothing new.

The six Bambiraptors acted as if they owned the place. The nerve of them! They just wondered in, squawked at us a couple of times and proceeded to nose around. They were looking for food, not our food. They were after our PrimusPrimate friends, who all ran to safety in the top of their tree. Except for Fur Ball; he took to Laci's shoulder.

The little dinosaurs then surrounded Laci. She grabbed a club -- which coincidentally had a raptor's sickle-shaped raptor claw on the end of it -- and stood her ground. Josephine and Leonard each grabbed one of the small crossbows we keep in the kitchen. I picked up a meat cleaver.

I wasn't worried about these carnivores. These chicken sized dinosaurs were no threat to us. The four of us probably could have chased them off. But I doubt that that would be the end of it. They would continue to come back.

To prevent that, we all decided when we first got here that we would kill any carnivorous dinosaur -- no matter how big or small -- that wondered into camp. Other than a couple of exceptions -- for example, the Hooters and the Purple Dragon -- we have kept to that decision. It was our way of establishing ourselves. Besides, it's also an easy way to get meat.

So, the four of us each chose one of the Bambiraptors as a target.

"Leonard," I said, "you take the one on the left. Laci you take that one closest to you."

"Don't worry about me," Laci interrupted me. "I want this little bastard right in front of me." Fur Ball was couched low on her shoulder, hiding in her hair and peeking out at the Bambiraptors.

"I got this one in my sights," Josephine added.

I took the one closest to me. "OK, on cue we all strike at the same time. Whoever kills theirs first goes after the other two."

It's a good thing the dinosaurs couldn't understand us. They had no idea what we were planning. They continued to stalk around Laci, eyeing Fur Ball. I guess they figured we were no danger to them. Either that or they're a lot more fearless than I figured -- or a lot more stupid.

"Now!" I yelled. The six of them were dead in less than a minute. Josephine and Leonard clubbed the fifth and sixth ones to death after shooting their targets with their crossbows. I had trouble with mine. The little monster wouldn't die. I hit it three times with the cleaver. I finally hit it on the side of its head with the broad side of the blade, knocking it unconscious. Then I chopped its head off. Laci killed hers with one whack with her club.

Later, Josephine added two of the Bambiraptors to her vegetable stew for supper. Everyone said that the Bambiraptors tasted like chicken. But I'm sure that's because they look like colorful roosters. We smoked the rest of them.

But it was good that the beasts came into our camp because Anthony and Joseph and their team didn't find any game; which was rare. It's not often that a team goes out on a hunt and then comes home empty handed, especially if Anthony is along with them. He jokingly claimed that he gave the dinosaurs a break and that's why he didn't see any game. We all laughed and teased him.

The next morning Beth gave me a hat she made out of the purple, green and gold Bambiraptor feathers. She said that she had been to Mardi Gras once and loved it. She knows I'm from New Orleans and she thought I would enjoy having a Mardi Gras hat. I cried when she gave it to me.

I now wear it when I go out on hunts and food forages. I can't wear it in camp because it frightens the PrimusPrimates. Everyone says I look like I'm ready for Mardi Gras, with my Bambiraptor hat, camouflage Marineosaurus bikini shorts and bare breasts; I'm usually topless as are most of us women.

We've all lost weight. Everyone jokingly says its David's, Doc's and Josephine's cooking. But we all know better. We only have two official meals a day, one in the morning and one in the evening. We are all usually too busy during the day to stop and eat. Searching for food, gathering firewood, making something, fixing something or learning a new skill, it all takes up our time.

We can't go to the local store to buy what we need. We have to make it, gather it, capture it or fix it. True, we have a lot of leisure time. But when we do work it really burns up the calories. On top of that we don't have any salt or sugar or the other fattening food additives. The only sweetener we have is honey. Hence, we have all lost weight.

I'm glad for it though. I have not looked this good or felt this good since I was in college!

My hunting and foraging party killed a Triceratops Rex! Joshua didn't go out with us; he was down with a fever. Chantelle went with us instead; she had the .45 pistol. Anthony didn't go because he had garbage detail. We were about 10 kilometers northwest of camp in an area we had not previously scouted. It was Leonard's first time out since his accident. He walks with a limp.

We had come upon what looked like a cornfield; it covered about three quarters a football field. The stalks looked like cornstalks but the ears were shaped more like pears, fat on the end coming out of the stalk and thinner on the other end. Also, each ear had far fewer kernels on them. Nor were the ears completely covered with husks as are corn ears I am accustomed to seeing.

We started to gather some when we came upon a strange looking quadruped. It was brown with green spots and a green tail that resembled the stalks of corn. It was about as big as a Basset Hound and looked somewhat like one but with orange buck teeth. But it wasn't a mammal. It was a small sauropod and I'm sure we were gathering its food. It grunted at us when it saw us. Then it ran away. Natalie, Chantelle and I were the only ones who saw it. Leonard and Laci were busy gathering the corn.

Anyway, Natalie and I tried to follow it but discovered that it ran under some rocks that formed a small cave. We were debating whether or not to try and dig it out when Chantelle came up to us with her first finger on her lips, signaling us to be quiet. She had the .45 pistol in her other hand.

She pointed to our right. There standing at the edge of the field and sniffing the air was a Triceratops Rex. I whispered for her to use the gun only if our crossbows didn't work. She put the pistol in its holster.

I guess it picked up our sent because next it came charging right toward the three of us. I slipped my crossbow off my back and was preparing to shoot it when I saw Laci and Leonard aiming at the beast. We all keep our crossbows loaded when away from camp just for such emergencies.

Laci and Leonard were to the carnivore's left and both shot at the same time; one bolt hit it in its neck and another hit it in its snout.

The monster stopped in its tracks and began to come after them. Then Chantelle, Natalie and I all took aim at the theropod. Chantelle and I shot our crossbows at the same time and Natalie a second later.

Natalie hit it in its lower jaw, my bolt hit it just below its right eye and Chantelle's right in front of its eye. The beast stopped again and looked in our direction. It let out a gurgling sound and shook its head back and forth several times; seemingly trying to dislodge the crossbow bolts.

As with Thomas and his team, the animal's hesitation is all we needed. We all reloaded. Natalie and I, using the cornstalks for cover, began to creep up on the monster. I hollered to Laci and Leonard to do the same. Meanwhile, Chantelle circled around to the front of the beast.

When we were all in position, I gave a shout and we all shot at it at the same time. A second bolt hit it in its left snout and one bolt hit right in front of its left eye; those were from Laci and Leonard. Chantelle's bolt went right into its nose. Natalie hit it right behind its right eye and I put one right in the center of its right eye and into its brain. The monster fell over dead with a loud thud.

Although Natalie said that the lethal bolt was hers, I didn't try to correct her. I was just glad that we women proved we too could kill a giant carnivore. I was even happier that another monster had fallen, a victim to our superiority.

What does Genesis chapter one say, "I've given all the beasts of the earth to be your food," or something like that. I'll have to look it up in the bible that I downloaded onto the laptop.

We skinned it, cut out some steaks, chopped out its teeth and left the rest for whatever animal wanted to eat it. We named the sauropod Cornosaurus. I hope it appreciates that we rid the area of another carnivore.

Then as we started to head for home I threw up. I felt queasy the rest of the day but passed it off as jitters over the scare we had just had. But the next morning when I threw up again I was sure I had joined ranks with Laci, Beth, Regina, Natalie and Aleks.

I'm pregnant.

Laci and Beth are just over two months each and Regina is about six weeks. Natalie and Aleks each missed their periods a couple of weeks ago. Yves ran tests on them both and confirmed what they already suspected.

After I threw up, Doc ran a test on me and congratulated me on being the sixth woman to be with child. I'm happy as a lark. Oh! Doc Yves is also the father of Beth's child. I don't know about the other women.

I've since talked to Josephine, Veronica, Vickie and Akira. They all say that they are going to get pregnant. They are just waiting for the right moment with the right man.

The men killed another Marineosaurus! Joshua, Thomas and Anthony were out on a hunt by themselves. It was a Wednesday and most of the rest of us were fishing and swimming at Lake Hope. We were all swimming in the nude. Regina, Juan and Leonard were standing guard with crossbows. Leonard still walks with a limp. Doc says that he'll probably do so the rest of his life. Doc Yves, Beth and Josephine stayed in camp.

While we were swimming a Daddy Long Legs theropod came snooping around our camp looking for something to eat. This is a very small carnivore that eats mostly insects. But it will eat anything, including small mammals and our fruits and vegetables.

Although these dinosaurs are mostly a pest, the PrimusPrimates scamper to the top of their tree whenever one comes around. Of course, when one does come into camp we keep to our word and kill it.

It is a solitary creature, measuring about a meter and a half from the tip of its serrated beak to its long tail. It has meter long legs, arms that are almost just as long and three sharp claws on each hand. I named it. Except for some of its coloring, it reminds me of a long legged pink flamingo.

Its hands, feet and face are black and featherless. But the rest of its body is covered with pink, white and light grey feathers. It flaps its arms up and down whenever it chases a flying insect, reminiscent of an Antoinetteosaurus.

As soon as Boss Hog screeched an alarm Fur Ball climbed up onto Beth's shoulder and hid in her hair. There he stayed until Josephine killed it with a shot from one of the hand crossbows we keep in camp. Then she added it to a stew she was preparing.

Anyway, I looked up the beach and saw Joshua, Thomas and Anthony returning from their hunt. It was early, which told me that they had gotten something. When I first saw them, I wondered what they killed that could be added to our evening meal -- at that time I didn't know we had been visited by a Daddy Long Legs.

Akira and Aleks, the only ones fishing, weren't having much luck. Louis, Joseph, Veronica, Natalie and Vickie were stirring up the water playing a sensuous game of touch tag.

It's a water sport we modified to fill our special needs. Those playing the game are not allowed in water deeper than their knee. The person who is tagged "it" has to touch, pinch or grope their target on the ass or the breast in order not to be it any more. Of course, the men always go after us women. I guess that's to be expected. But we all love it and every time we do play the love nests are full to capacity that night. That's to be expected too.

David and Laci were lying together on the beach. Chantelle and I were off to the side discussing my pregnancy. We were also making plans to spend the night together; we haven't had sex together in almost a week. That's mostly my fault. I've been spending a lot of time with Yves lately.

Getting back to the Marineosaurus, when they got a little closer, even though they were still some two hundred meters away, I knew they killed something big when I saw them coming down the beach. Thomas was waving a large tooth over his head. Chantelle was thinking along the same line as I was.

"I hope Thomas didn't kill another Marineosaurus," she said with a slight frown. "There surely will be no living with him now."

"Maybe they shot it with the .45," I answered her, hoping that it was either Joshua or Anthony who killed the beast.

"I don't care what they shot it with as long as it wasn't Thomas," Chantelle continued.

"Well if it was Thomas, I'm sure he'll do like he did when he killed the first one. He'll brag a little bit and then accept that it was a team effort."

By now I could make out the Marineosaurus skin that Anthony had slung over his shoulder.

"Let him have his moment, Chantelle. After all it's not everyday that one of us gets the opportunity to kill a monster."

"Yeah, I guess you're right, my love."

Thomas was all smiles when he greeted us. I was greatly surprised when he bragged that Joshua killed the Marineosaurus with one shot. He was so excited that had he not given credit to Joshua, a person would have thought that he was the one who killed the dinosaur.

"You should have seen it Toni. The monster didn't stand a chance against the three of us. We crept up on the dinosaur ever so stealthily. Then Joshua killed the beast with one shot from his crossbow."

He paused. Then he threw his fist into the air and hollered out, "We are the champions! We are the champions!"

I looked at Joshua. He just smiled and held up a large steak for me to inspect.